Artificial filament and method for its production



May 21, 1935. w, MENDEL 2,002,153

ARTIFICIAL FILAMENT AND METHOD FOR ITS PRODUCTION Filed April 15, 1953 INVENTOR W/LL/AM Min 0:1

;; mentsare enhanced.

According to theDictionary of Tarifi Infor-.

act

, 253. all-overs.

Patented May 21, 1935 I 1 JTED S.

PATE T OFFICE ARTIFICIAL FILAMENT AND 'rnon For,

TSPROD TIQN William Mendel; Beverly, NJ: 1., assignor to Sylvania Industrial, Corporation, Fredericksburg, Va., a corporation Virginia Application April s, 1933, Serial'No. 665,864.

10 Claims.--

This invention relates generalto artificial filaments adapted to be woven, braided or otherwise utilized in fabrics and millinery, and to a process and a; spinneret for forming the same .;from viscose solutions and the like; More particularly it relates to an artificial horse hair filament commonly known as visca, and includes, correlated improvements and discoveries whereby the production andproperties of artificial filamation 1924, visca is-known in thetrade as sinaline, visca. lame and artificial silk bands. In appearance it closely resembles ribbon straw of :.artificial silka name applied to it.-being lustrous andflexible and-having a surfaceslightly striated and crinkled. It is manufactured in sizes l varying; from a-thread /2 mm.;wideto ribbonlike bands 2-1. mm. wide.

straw, either alone or in combination-with chip or hemp, for making hat braids. Itis also employed-with warp or filling of cotton, artificial silk-or metal thread, in the weaving of j millinery In the'art to which this invention appertains, it has long been desired to; have avlsca strand of covering ability p er unit. of weightmequal" to or greater than that afforded by;rough natural straw; It was also; thedesire that the artificial;

filament should show the principal; surface and ornamental characteristics of roughastraw, that is, ;;the surface should have; a; rough,- scintillating appearance" in reflected light. The artificial 35,-; strandsof the prior, arthave smooth unbroken surfaces ofrhighgloss, and are lacking. in; covering power.andornamentalefiect; it

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved .visca filament or; strand: of surface characteristicssuch that the reflection of lighttherefrom willproduce a scintillatingoptical and decorativeefiect,inimitation of that; produced by rough natural straw.

Another objectofjthe invention is; to provide, 45. a visca filament having a; relatively. large solid body section andnthin crinkled finsections extending; from: the body; section longitudinally of the.

filament;

\ It :is a furtherfobject of the invention to provide; 5%: a" spinneret having an. :orifice of; such: shape as.

to impartto plastic bodies extruded therethrough the cross-sectional characteristicsof the improved filament. i j

An additional object of the invention is tapro- 5' vide'aifilament' produced from a viscose solution which; characterized by? having ashriveled relativ'ely?large-bodysection, thin crinkled; fin sections joined to. said body an-d radially disposed upon the surface and"; extending longitudinally of: the

9:1 body and having-helical. twists and multitud nous:

Visca; is used substantially the same; way as- (on 18 8-) h facetsadapted to reflect light with a scintillating v effect.

Still another object of the invention is m vide a process for the production of artificial filaments having a unique appearance and of greater covering power than natural straw and which can be readily, economically and efficiently produced on a commercial scale.

Other objects of the invention ,willin part be obvious and will in part, appear hereinafter.

In the practiceof the invention a visca filament such; for example, as an artificial horse-- hair filament may be formed of anysuitable viscous solution or plastic mass; for example a cellulose solution such as viscose (sodium cellu lose xanthate) or asolution of a cellulose ester, cellulose ether, cellulose oxyether and other cellulose derivatives in a suitable. solvent.

An artificial straw or visca filament of improved properties is obtained by. extruding a suit-- able viscous solutionor plastic mass through a spinnerethavihga body portionprovided with,

an orifice characterized by a relatively) large cen traLsection and relatively thin slot-shaped orifices extending radially therefrom, coagulating the extruded strand under tension. and, after purification, drying the strand free of. tension, whereby an uneven shrinkage occurs in the thick body section relative to the thin Further,

by coordinating the speed of spinning with the amount of stretch given the raw strand as well as the process of drying, the uneven shrinka'ge of the several parts canbe widely augmented. When thus prepared, the finished viscafilament has a and the relation of one .or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, all ase empli fled in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

- Fora iul c und rst nd n oi hanaiut and objects of the invention, reference should be made. to, the. following: detailed description taken n: c n unct n w h. ea qmpa n dra n in which:

a rep e ts a on, n ie g atly enar ed onemcd fica iq of; th nov inn e nt ni Fla-. 2. a dia rammat c isit a e evati n,

partly in section, illustrating certain steps of my improved process.

Fig. 3 represents a fanciful view, greatly enlarged, of a novel visca filament which may result from the use of the spinneret shown in Fig. 1.- t

Fig. 4 represents a sectional View, of the strand of Fig. 3 taken along the line 4-4 thereof.

In Fig. 1 there is shown an illustrative modification of a novel spinneret comprising a body portion which is provided with a relatively large centrally disposed orifice I. This is shown as substantially circular, and it may have, for example, a diameter of about 0.021 inch. The slot-shaped orifies 2, extending radially and connecting with the orifice, are each preferably of a length equal to or greater than the diameter of as from the central orifice.

It will be observed that the novel spinneret may be designed with an orifice having, in general, the characteristic cross-sectional form desired in the finished filament. If a filament of great roughness is desired, the number of fins may be increased to three, four or more by employing a spinneret having an orifice giving an enlarged body section, and three, four, or more slot-shaped orifices extending radially therefrom. A filament having a single fin may be prepared by use of a spinneret having a relatively large orifice and a single fin, but such filaments show a pronounced tendency to curl, which for certain purposes may lessen their utility. It is therefore preferred to employ a spinneret having two or moreslot-shaped orifices disposed about the central orifice. These slot-shaped orifices may be symmetrically or asymmetrically disposed with respect to the orifice.

A suitable apparatus for preparing filaments by use of the improved spinneret is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2, in which a viscose or the like solution supplied through a conduit 4, is extruded through an improved spinneret 5 into a suitable hardening bath 6 contained in a vessel 1. The hardened strands 8 are stretched as spun by being carried over a rotating pulley or godet 9 from which they may descend through a funnel to into a rotating centrifugal spinning box l I wherein the strands are twisted and simultaneously coiled against the sides to form a so called cake E2. The spinning box H is preferably of the bucket type.

If the peripheral speed of the pulley 9 drawing off the filament is 50 meters per minute (spinning speed), and the'speed of the rotating box is 100 meters per minute, the twist produced in the filament should be turns per meter of filament spun. The number of twists per unit of length may be varied as desired, but the filament has a greater resemblance to natural rough straw when the number of twists is not more than five per meter.

1 The cake l2 of raw visca may be subjected to the usual processes of purification and finishing. For example, when the filament is prepared from a viscose solution the cake '12 may be-treated in succession to the action of a dilute acid or acid salt solution, a desulphurizing agent, a bleaching agent, and then washed and glycerinated. During drying the filament preferably is maintained substantially free of tension. The unequal shrinkage of the thick body section relative to the fins results in the fins becoming crinkled and convoluted, and further there is a slight increase in the number of twists per unit of length of the strand, when drying is thus carried out.

It will be realized that without transcending thescope of the invention, the visca filament may be dyed, or rendered opaque by the use of suitable dies and pigments, and may be waterproofed, fireproofed and otherwise treated or decorated.

It will be seen that the invention accordingly comprises an improved spinneret of novel design and an article of manufacture produced by the use of the same,-as an artificial horse-hair or visca filament characterized by a shriveled cylindrical body section having crinkled fin sections joined to said body and radially disposed upon the surface longitudinally of the body section. The crinkled, convoluted fins and the shriveled body section afford multitudinous facets adapted to reflect light with a scintillating effect highly desired in the art. This improved filament has a covering power per unit of weight greater than that of prior artificial horse-hair or visca of cylindrical cross-section and has an ornamental effect equal to or greater than that of the higher priced rough natural straws. The availability of this novel artificial horse-hair in continuous lengths permits a wide variety of weaving, knitting and braiding operations to be performed by machinery instead of by hand as necessitated by the use of a limiting-sense except as specified in the appended claims.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

The expression visca as used in the claims is intended to cover an artificial filament as defined in the Dictionary of Tariff Information, U. S. Tariff Commision, Washington, D. C. 1924.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. As an article of manufacture,- an artificial filament comprising a thick shriveled body section and a thin crinkled fin section joined to said body.

2. As an article of manufacture, an artificial filament comprising a thick shriveled body section, thin crinkled fin sections joined to said body, said fins being radially disposed and extending longitudinally of said filament, and multitudinous facets adapted to reflect light with a scintillating effect. I,

3. As an article of manufacture, an artificial filament comprising a thick shriveled body section, thin crinkled fin sections joined to said body, said filament being further characterized by helical twists and multitudinous facets adapted to reflect light with-a scintillating effect. I

4. As an article of manufacture, an artificial filament comprising a thick shriveled body section, a plurality of thin crinkled fin sections symmetrically disposed about and joined to said body section and extending longitudinally of said filament, and multitudinous facets adapted to reflect light with a scintillatingefiect.

5. As an article of manufacture, an artificial filament comprising a thick, shriveled body section, thin crinkled fin sections joined to said body and having lengths not less than the diameter of said body section, said fins being radially disposed and extending longitudinally of said filafment and. multitudinous facets adapted to reflect light with a scintillating effect.

6. Asan article of manufacture, a visca filamentresembling natural straw and comprising a thick, shrivelled body section and a thin, crinkled fin section joined to said body, said filament having a twist of not more than five turns per meter and having multitudinous facets adapted to refiect light with a s'cintillatingeffect;

7. An improved spinneret for artificial filaments comprising a body portion provided with a relatively large central orifice and relatively narrow slot-shaped orifices extending radially from said central orifice, said slot-shaped orifices having lengths at least equal to the diameter of the central orifice.

8. An improved spinneret for artificial filaments comprising a body portion provided with a substantially circular, relatively large central orifice and relatively narrow slot-shaped orifices extending radially from and symmetrically disposed about said central orifice, said slot-shaped orifices having lengths at least equal to the diameter of the central orifice.

9. An improved spinneret for artificial filaments comprising a body portion provided with a substantially circular central orifice and aplurality of relatively narrow slot-shaped orifices extending radially from and symmetrically disposed 

